Oh, and one other thing. We should probably stop thinking that other teams just look at stat sheets when evaluating players not in the NHL. If we aren't sure that Zykov can play regularly in the NHL because of his skating deficiencies, the 30 other teams in the NHL have the same concerns. Especially, Los Angeles, which drafted him originally.

It's his rookie pro season, playing on a stacked team offensively. He's been getting limited minutes. I'm not too concerned right this moment about him, he has time to develop, he isn't even 21 yet. Hopefully a few guys get promoted to the NHL next season and he gets to move up the lineup into a bigger role.

It's his rookie pro season, playing on a stacked team offensively. He's been getting limited minutes. I'm not too concerned right this moment about him, he has time to develop, he isn't even 21 yet. Hopefully a few guys get promoted to the NHL next season and he gets to move up the lineup into a bigger role.

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Good post. Sometimes the forwards who don't produce muxh in the AHL shine in the NHL. I hope this 6.5 foeward turns into a beast.

I don’t see Wallmark as a real contributor at the NHL level. A plug-and-play callup, sure. He’s not awful or anything. But he has 1 goal in 177 minutes of massively sheltered ice time. He doesn’t seem like a guy who can elevate his game enough on either end of the ice to take on on heavy minutes. And he turns 23 before next season, so the likelihood that he takes a huge step forward is starting to dwindle. To me, he’s something slightly less than Zach Boychuk and slightly more than Drayson Bowman.

Zykov seems like another Derek Ryan type figure to me. Yes he can probably generate points in the NHL, but seems to me it would come at a cost. I’d like to see him called up for a few games just to get a good eye test on that theory.

I have no idea what people see in Roy other than AHL numbers. To me he’s a player who would clearly be in over his head against NHL opponents.

Gauthier is young and raw and hopefully grows into an Erik Cole type. But every time I’ve watched him play, I’ve seen him bumble around with the puck. Players that can’t handle the puck get targeted and become turnover machines. He’s not big enough or fast enough right now to make up for that, which I suspect is why he’s not getting minutes in Charlotte. He needs to develop his skill game before he even thinks about the NHL.

The only reason I would even think about a callup for any of these guys, is this right here:

I just think it would be nice to give him a chance to show what he can do instead of wasting a roster spot on Stempniak. There's no need to guess or project what Zykov will need to be successful at the NHL level when we could know for sure by just playing him.

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Stempniak has been a low-key Darling/Kruger level disappointment and his career is probably over on April 7th. It’s hard to remember a more functionally useless player who wasn’t an AHL callup. There’s absolutely no reason to have him in the lineup if it’s blocking us from getting useful information or even just rewarding strong play from our prospects. I’m honestly not sure we wouldn’t be better off just using 17 skaters and double-shifting a winger rather than have Stempniak out there, casually observing the game for a few minutes a night.

What I've seen in Roy is a big guy, with good hands, seems to be an intelligent player, and compared to Gauthier, more seemingly willing to get dirty and mix it up physically. What I don't see in Roy is good skating and if he doesn't become a good enough skater, I can't see him making it in the NHL.

What I've seen in Roy is a big guy, with good hands, seems to be an intelligent player, and compared to Gauthier, more seemingly willing to get dirty and mix it up physically. What I don't see in Roy is good skating and if he doesn't become a good enough skater, I can't see him making it in the NHL.

Admittedly, I don't have a ton of viewings, but he looks to be more physical and willing to mix it up more than Rask in the times I've seen him. As for if he's slower than Rask was at that stage of his career? I have no clue.

Roy has made his entire career causing havoc at the net-front with his big body. Rask plays like the front of the net and the slot are hot lava. They aren't really comparable outside of lacking foot speed.

Admittedly, I don't have a ton of viewings, but he looks to be more physical and willing to mix it up more than Rask in the times I've seen him. As for if he's slower than Rask was at that stage of his career? I have no clue.

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I only have what I've seen, no numbers and no direct comparison, so it is mostly my perception. I'd say Rask is faster now than Roy is now, but I'd not bet any significant amount of money on it.

Roy has made his entire career causing havoc at the net-front with his big body. Rask plays like the front of the net and the slot are hot lava. They aren't really comparable outside of lacking foot speed.

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Yeah, their games are different. I was mostly commenting on the good hands, intelligent players descriptions. And lack of speed, which ultimately will be the one thing that defines/limits their careers.

Don't see enough to think he'll be a 3C though. I said it earlier (and NotOpie disagreed) that he looks like a poor man's Victor Rask to me.

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I think that he's good enough to be a 3C, but right now he'd be a good 4C on a line w/some offensive potential and one that got typical Peters 4th line ice time. I believe he's a better skater overall than Rask and has a similar shot.